This is a book about scientists, their environment and their inter-relationships as viewed from the diverse and sometimes conflicting perspectives of a group of behavioural and management scientists. The society of the contributors to this volume is no exception. Thus, the papers in this book reflect many differences - in viewpoint, approach, emphasis, methodology and value orientation. In this brief chapter we will note some of the differences in the approach to problems in the research society since we feel these in particular might be useful for the reader to keep in mind as he examines the contents of the book.

Through key research papers from Palgrave's Journal of Operational Research, this book showcases how Operational Research can be applied to sports in a variety of ways, including: timetabling fixtures; scheduling officials; forecasting outcomes; optimizing tactics and strategy; analyzing the effects of rules and laws; planning issues, and performance measurement. The introductory chapter provides a broad overview with an examination of how this area has developed over time, and a look at its wide ranging applications to sports including football, tennis and cricket etc.

"History of the American society of mechanical engineers. Preliminary report of the committee on Society history," issued from time to time, beginning with v. 30, Feb. 1908.